THE Allied Peoples Movement concluded its case against the President, Bola Tinubu, today, after it called one witness to testify before the Presidential Election Petition Court.
In its petition, the APM is challenging the election of Tinubu on the grounds that his Vice President, Kashim Shettima, had double nominations as a senatorial and Vice Presidential candidate before the February 25 elections.
The party prayed the court to nullify Tinubu’s victory on the grounds that the process that brought about his declaration as president by the Independent National Electoral Commission was “flawed”.
Cited as respondents in the matter are INEC, President Tinubu, Vice President Shettima, their party, the All Progressives Congress, and Ibrahim Masari.
During the resumed hearing on the matter and while cross-examining the witness, counsel for INEC, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, asked if she was privy to the notice of substitution of a candidate for the Borno Central Senatorial District ticket received by the electoral commission, to which she answered in the negative.
The senior advocate tendered a letter dated July 6, which the APC addressed to the INEC chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu.
In the letter, the APC said it withdrew Shettima’s nomination for the Borno Central Senatorial District election and invited the electoral commission to observe its supplementary primary election to field a replacement for Shettima in view of the senatorial candidature of Borno Central.
Pinheiro said an earlier judgement by the Supreme Court that dismissed a similar suit filed by another party, the Peoples Democratic Party, was based on the APC’s letter announcing Shettima’s withdrawal from the senatorial race.
Other respondents, including Tinubu and the APC, adopted INEC’s defence.
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